Brad Pitt may have a huge hit on his hands with the highly anticipated World War Z, since its trailer is a definite attention grabber.

Framing a worldwide catastrophe and watching it unfold through the eyes of a family is nothing new - Steven Spielberg used the same device, in effective fashion, with Tom Cruise in the 2005 blockbuster War of the Worlds.

But it’s zombies, not aliens, who have taken center stage, thanks to The Walking Deadand The Resident Evil franchise. If you’re a videogame nut, chances are Left 4 DeadandDead Rising have entered your head space (along with Resident Evil installments).

I’m totally buying into World War Z for a couple of reasons. When’s the last time you’ve seen a completely awful Brad Pitt flick? In the past decade, Pitt’s hit some huge cinematic high notes with Moneyball, Tree of Life and, most notably, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Marc Forster, one of Hollywood’s most refreshingly unpredictable filmmakers, has proven he can handle high profile material (he directed the James Bond feature Quantum of Solace), but Forster’s main strengths lie in capture heartbreaking human drama, as evidenced from his diverse work in such films as Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner, and most recently, Machine Gun Preacher.

Adding humanity in a high concept feature littered with the undead may seem cliche if handled by less able directors, but Forster has the tools to actually elevate World War Z from standard summer popcorn fare.

Mindless entertainment during the summer is completely warranted and can be highly diverting, but World War Z just has the look of a total winner. Of course, I’ve been wrong before.